Record grocery deflation hurts sales at Tesco, Asda and Morrisons and Sainsbury’s

The average basket is now 2.1 per cent cheaper than it was last year (Source: Getty)

All four of Britain’s major supermarkets saw sales fall over the last 12 weeks, while the discounters continued to slow, as grocery price deflation reached another record low, figures released yesterday show.

Sainsbury’s was the strongest performer among the big four despite a 0.2 per cent fall in sales thanks to its increased focus on growing its non-food business, according to Kantar Worldpanel’s data for the 12 weeks to 26 April.

Tesco, Asda and Morrisons, which – like Sainsbury’s – have all been slashing prices to compete with the German discounters Aldi and Lidl, saw declines of one per cent 2.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

Kantar’s Fraser McKevitt said: “Aldi and Lidl continue to be the fastest growing retailers, up by 15.1 per cent and 10.1 per cent respectively.

“While such growth is the envy of the industry it is slower than in recent months, suggesting the discounter momentum is starting to slow a little,” he said.

Record low deflation means the average basket is now 2.1 per cent cheaper than it was last year, Kantar Worldpanel said, saving shoppers £20 in the past three months but costing supermarkets £532m.